Wrapping up a report for Tuesday's NBC Today about the hidden
camera video of Mitt Romney speaking at a fundraiser, national
investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff laughably proclaimed: "The
source who made the secret video insisted to NBC News that the original
motivation was not political but simple curiosity, to see what Romney
would say in this unscripted setting." [Listen to the audio [1]]
After promoting that assertion, Isikoff added: "But after watching the
tape, the source decided the public should hear what Romney said and was
encouraged to release it after talks with an Atlanta political
researcher names James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter..."
Isikoff didn't question the fact that Romney made the comments in May
but that the video was just released 50 days before the election.
Early in his report, Isikoff cited the magazine Mother Jones for having
initially obtained the video, but did not ascribe any liberal label to
the left-wing publication. Reporting the story on Monday's NBC Nightly News [2], anchor Brian Williams did describe it as a "liberal magazine."
At the top of the show, co-host Matt Lauer declared that Romney was "on
the defensive" following the release of the video. Isikoff similarly
began his report by announcing that Romney's comments were "now raising
tough new questions for his presidential campaign."
Here is a full transcript of the September 18 report:
7:00AM ET TEASE:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: "Off the cuff," that's how Mitt Romney is describing
his comments, secretly recorded at a fundraiser, critical of millions of
President Obama's supporters.
MITT ROMNEY: There are 47% who are with him, who are dependent on government, who believe that they are victims.
7:01AM ET TEASE:
MATT LAUER: Big morning in politics here. Mitt Romney is on defensive
about those comments secretly recorded at a fundraiser in Florida. We're
going to have more on that story straight ahead.
7:03AM ET SEGMENT:
SAVANNAH GUTHRIE: Here at home, there's a major political story in the
presidential race. Mitt Romney defending comments secretly recorded at a
private fundraiser in which he criticized Obama supporters as victims
who are dependent on government. Michael Isikoff is NBC's national
investigative correspondent. Michael, good morning to you.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Romney Responds; Candidate Defends Video Calling Voters "Victims"]
MICHAEL
ISIKOFF: Good morning, Savannah. The newly leaked video was taken from a
small digital camera concealed on a piece of furniture 20 feet from
Romney as he spoke at a Florida fundraiser four months ago, and it's now
raising tough new questions for his presidential campaign.
MITT ROMNEY: There are 47 percent of the people who will vote for the President no matter what.
ISIKOFF: The video, first obtained by Mother Jones and later by NBC
News, shows Romney surrounded by donors in May. NBC News has learned it
was secretly recorded at a $50,000-a-plate fundraiser at the Boca Raton,
Florida home of private equity mogul Mark Leiter. Asked how he's going
to convince voters that they need to take care of themselves, Romney
responds:
ROMNEY: Alright, there are 47% who are with him, who are dependent upon
government, who believe that they are victims, who believe the
government has a responsibility to care for them, who believe that they
are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you name it. That
that's an entitlement, and the government should give it to them. And
they will vote for this president no matter what.
ISIKOFF: Romney concedes he has little chance of winning these voters
over because they can't relate to his message of lower taxes and less
government.
ROMNEY: These are people who pay no income tax. 47 percent of Americans
pay no income tax. So our message of low taxes doesn't connect. So
he'll be out there talking about tax cuts for the rich. That's what they
sell every four years. And so my job is not to worry about those
people, I'll never convince them they should take personal
responsibility and care for their lives. What I have to do is convince
the 5 to 10 percent in the center that are independent, that are
thoughtful, that look at voting one way or the other depending upon, in
some cases emotion, whether they like the guy or not.
ISIKOFF: Later, asked why he doesn't attack the President more forcefully, Romney says this about swing voters he's targeting:
ROMNEY: Because they voted for him, they don't want to be told that
they were wrong, that he's a bad guy, that he did bad things, that's
he's corrupt. But those people that we have to get, they want to believe
they did the right thing, but he just wasn't up to the task. They love
the phrase that, "he's over his head."
ISIKOFF: While the Obama campaign called Romney's comments "shocking,"
Romney on Monday night responded at a campaign event in California.
ROMNEY: It's not elegantly stated, let me put it that way. I'm speaking
off the cuff in response to a question, and I'm sure I could state it
more clearly and in a more effective way than I did in a setting like
that. The President believes in what I've described as a
government-centered society where government plays a larger and larger
role, provides for more and more of the needs of individuals, and I
happen to believe instead in a free enterprise, free individual society
where people pursuing their dreams are able to employ one another, build
enterprises, build the strongest economy in the world. I happen to
believe that my approach is the approach that will put 23 million people
back to work again.
ISIKOFF: At one point in the video, Romney also makes a joke about the
background of his famous father, who was born of American parents in
Mexico.
ROMNEY: Had he been born of Mexican parents, I'd have a better shot of
winning this, but he was...unfortunately born of Americans living in
Mexico. They lived there for a number of years and uh, I mean I say that
jokingly, but it would be helpful being Latino.
ISIKOFF: The source who made the secret video insisted to NBC News that
the original motivation was not political but simple curiosity, to see
what Romney would say in this unscripted setting. But after watching the
tape, the source decided the public should hear what Romney said and
was encouraged to release it after talks with an Atlanta political
researcher names James Carter IV, the grandson of Jimmy Carter, a
president who is frequently compared by Romney to Barack Obama as an
example of a failed president. Savannah.
GUTHRIE: Alright, Michael Isikoff in our Washington newsroom, thank you.